Saw horse or trestle



Patented Nov. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

1,935,871 SAW HORSE 0R TRESTLE Earl J. Cuffed, Lancaster, and John Berent,

Lockport, N. Y.

' Application August 15, 1932. Serial No. 628,836

7 Claims.

ments. FigureZ is an end view thereof. Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional perspective view of one end of the trestle. Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the leg-swinging yokes. Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional perspective view of a modification of the invention.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Referring now to the drawing, 10 indicates the platform or rest board of the horse for supporting the scaffolding planks, table or the like, and

11, 11 indicate foldable legs which are disposed at opposite ends of the platform, being made of wood or channel iron, and which, if desired, may consist of extensible sections, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 3, to vary the height of the platform, Each pair of legs is so mounted that it can be swung longitudinally to an unfolded operative position or to a folded position against the platform, and also transversely to extend the legs of a pair to a divergent or bracing position in their unfolded position and to contract them to a substantially parallel position to occupy a space substantially equal to the width of the platform in the folded position thereof. To this end, the legs of a pair are attached to a verticallyswinging yoke or frame 12 fulcrumed on transverse pivot pins 13 carried by depending hangers or brackets 14 secured to the opposite sides of the platform. The legs are fulcrumed to this yoke 0 shown by full lines in Figures 2 and 3.

Secured to the underside of the platform substantially centrally, thereof and adjacent each leg-carrying yoke 12 is a depending bracket preferably consisting of a flanged plate 21 riveted or otherwise fastened to the platform. Arranged centrally. between the foldable legs 11, and pivoted at its upper end at 22 to the inner side of the bracket 21 and at its lower end to the common pivot 18 of the foldable cross brace arms 16, is a pendant, vertically-swinging and longitudinally movable guide bar or rail 23 which is adapted to move with the legs into and out of their folded position. At. its pivoted end this guide bar has a longitudinal slot 24, so that during the folding and unfolding of the legs 11 toward and from the platform the slotted ends of the bar are free to move lengthwise relative to the pivot 22. Pivoted at 25 to the guide bar 23 is one of the arms 26 of a longitudinally foldable brace, the other arm 27 of the brace being pivoted at 23 to a bracket 29 fastened to the underside of the platform 10. Complementary teats and recesses 30 and 31 formed in the brace arms 26 and 27, respectively, serve to effectually interlock the arms against collapse when in their extended or collapsed position against the platform 10.

Disposed in opposing relation to the foldable brace 26, 27 at the opposite side of the guide bar 23, is a tie member or link 32 which is connected at its upper end by a pivot 33 with the flanged plate 21 and pivotally joined at its lower end to said guide bar and preferably to the pivot 25 to which the foldable brace arm 26 is connected. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the upper pivotal connection 33 of this tie member is disposed out- Wardly of, and below the corresponding pivot 22 of the guide bar 23 and in the unfolded position of the legs said bar assumes an inclined position. By this construction, when it is desired to fold the legs against the platform 10, the brace 26, 2'7 is first broken at its pivot joint by displacing the same downwardly, as seen by dotted lines at the left of Figure 1, after which the legs are grasped and swung upwardly, the resulting swinging action of the tie member 32 automatically forcing the guide bar 23 lengthwise relative to its pivot 22 with the result that the legs are simultaneously contracted or swung laterally toward each other about their longitudinal pivots 15. Likewise with the unfolding of the legs to their supporting position, the tie member acts to automatically spread or swing the legs to their downwardly divergent position shown by full lines in Figure 2.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figure 5, the guide bar 23 is unslotted and instead a. yoke or slide 34 is mounted thereon for movement lengthwise thereof, the lower end of the yoke being pivoted to the central pivot 18 of the cross braces 16 while the corresponding end of the guide bar terminates beyond the slide in a stop flange 35. The longitudinal brace arm 26 is pivoted at 36 to the slide 34, so that as the legs 11 are folded upwardly, the slide will travel upwardly on the guide bar 23 and simultaneously contract the legs in the same manner as the previously described construction.

We claim as our invention: 1. A device of the character described, comprising a platform, a pair of foldable legs pivdisposed transversely between the legs and pivotally connected thereto for holding them in their crosswise expanded position, and a second means depending from each end of the platform for vertically-swinging movement and connected to said first-named means for imparting motion to. the latterto automatically swing the legs crosswise into and out of their expanded position during the unfolding and folding of the legs lengthwise. of the platform.

2. A device of the character described, com prising a platform, a pair of foldable legs pivoted at each end of the platform to swing both lengthwise, and crosswise thereof, a member depending from each end of the platform between the companion legs for combined verticallyswinging and longitudinal movement, two sets of foldable braces each having a part thereof connected to said member, one set of braces extending lengthwise of the platform and pivotally connected at one end thereto for holding thelegs in their unfolded position and the other set being disposed transversely between the legs and pivotally connected thereto for holding them in their crosswise expanded position, and a tie member pivoted at its upper end to each end of the platform outwardly of the companion firstnamed member and pivoted at its lower end to such member.

3. A device of the character described, com

"prising a platform, a pair of foldable legs pivoted at each end of the platform to swing both lengthwise and crosswise thereof,'a vertica11y swinging bar for each pair of foldable legs disposed between the same and pivotally connected at its upper end to the platform to swing toward and from its bottom side, said bar having a longitudinal slot engaging its pivot, and two sets offoldable' braces each having a part thereof pivotally connected adjacent the lower end of said "bar, one set of braces extending lengthwise of the platform and pivotally connected at one end thereto for holding the legs in their unfolded position and the other set being disposed transversely between the legs and pivotally connected thereto for holding them in their crosswise expanded position.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a platform, a pair of foldable legs pivoted at each end of the platform to swing both lengthwise and crosswise thereof, a verticallyswinging bar for each pair of foldable legs disposed between the same and pivotally connected at its upper end to the platform to swing toward and from its bottom side, said bar having a longitudinal slot engaging its pivot, two sets of foldable braces each having a part thereof pivotally connected adjacent the lower end of said bar, one set of braces extending lengthwise of the platform and pivotally connectedat one end thereto for holding the legs in'their unfolded position and the other set being disposed transversely between the legs and pivotally connected thereto for holding them in their crosswise expanded position, and a vertically-swinging tie member depending from the platform outwardly of the companion pivoted bar and pivotally connected atits lower end to said bar.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a platform, a pair of foldable legs pivoted at each end of the platform to swing both lengthwise and crosswise thereof, a guide bar pivoted at each end of the platform between the companion legs, a slide movable lengthwise or said guide bar, two sets of foldable braces each'hav ing a part thereof connected to said slide, one set of braces extending lengthwise of the platform and pivotally connected at one end thereto for holding the legs in their unfolded position and the other set being disposed transversely between the legs and pivotally connected thereto for holdslide.

6. A device of the character described, comprising a platform, a pair of foldable legs'pivoted ateach end of the platform to swing both lengthwise and crosswise thereof, a guide-bar pivoted at each end of the platform between the companion legs to swing lengthwise therewith, a slide movable lengthwise of the guide-bar, a longitudinally-foldable brace extending in one direction from the slide and pivotally connected at one end thereto and at its other end to the platform, a transversely-foldable brace connectedat its ends to the legs of a pair and at its jointed ends to said slide, and a tie member extending upwardly from said slide and pivotally connected at one end thereto and at its other end to the platform.

7. A foldable leg structure for saw horses and the like, comprising a supporting bracket adapted for attachment to the platform of the saw horse, a vertically-swinging leg yoke pivoted on said bracket, a pair of legs carried by said yoke and movable therewith to a folded inoperative position or to an unfolded operative position, said legs being pivoted on the yoke to swing laterally thereof and transversely of the bracket to assume a substantially downwardly divergent po sition when the legs are unfolded, transversely foldable'brace bars disposed between the lower ends of the legs a second bracket on the platform, a vertically-swinging guide bar fulcrumed pivoted at its upper end on said second bracket 

